HARJjJwoaUD RECORD 



25 



cheapness and little else. Of course some of the manufacturers of 

 these woods have exploited their product intelligently enough to 

 create something of a. consumers' demand, which has been respon- 

 sible for a positive statement by the owner in favor of a wood 

 which is obviously inferior to oak. But, generally speaking, it is 

 the apparent difference in cost which affects the situation most. 



A well-known builder, who operates a planing-mill for the manu- 

 facture of the millwork and interior finish used in his own jobs, 

 as well as for the trade, said the other day that in the typical 

 dwelling costing from $5,000 to .$7,500 the difference in cost be- 

 tween pine and oak would not amount to more than $150, or 

 roughly 2ii per cent; while the value of the house built with 

 hardwoods for interior finish is always greater than the difference 

 in cost indicated. Obviously, then, such a policy is not only a 

 good one from the standpoint of investment values, but in the 

 long run is a real economy. 



This builder is himself an enthusiast on the subject of oak, for 

 he said: 



"I can't understand the apparent failure on the part of the 

 public to demand oak and other high-class hardwoods for interior 

 finish work. My hands are tied, largel}', because the owners and 

 architects say what they want and I must give it to them. But 

 with pine costing $35 and oak $G.5 delivered, and the manufactur- 

 ing expense not more than ten or fifteen per cent greater on oak 

 than the other wood, the opportunity to show much of an increase 

 in cost because of the use of the better wood is not very large. 



"And think of the difference in the results! Nothing wears 

 like oak, and in a house where there are children, who are kicking 

 up the woodwork and putting it to the severest tests, oak seems 

 rather to improve than otherwise; while any other wood rapidly 

 depreciates and loses its appearance, carrying down the value of 

 the house immediately and inevitably. 



"A smart home-builder who is in the business of designing and 

 selling moderate-priced homes in a large middlewestern city said 

 recently that he had long ago realized that it is the woodwork 

 that does more than anything else to sell his properties. 



' ' I have found that it pays to spend a little more time and 

 expense on framing up a pleasing interior, using hardwood floors 

 and hardwood interiors generally wherever I can afford it, than 

 to put the same money into other things. Oak finish means to a 

 house what sterling does to silver, and I take advantage of it 

 whenever I can. ' ' 



This chap builds bungalows which are rather hastily thrown 

 together, and relies more on their "cuteness" and conveniences 

 of arrangement than actual quality to sell them; yet, even so, the 

 builder realizes the immense advantage won by putting in a little 

 money on. his interior finish. 



Did you ever notice the ads of those who have houses to sell? 

 If they have any hardwoods in their buildings, they not only men- 

 tion it but feature it! Hardwood floors have long been recognized 

 as indicating a high-grade proposition, and the public needs only 

 to be educated as to the corresponding desirability of other 

 hardwood items. 



Take doors for instance. Here pine is specified in a great 

 many cases when the logic^of the situation demands oak. And 

 stairways, balustrades, molding, baseboards, window sash, door- 

 frames and other classes of interior finish, even in houses that are 

 desirable in many respects, are too often of baser woods, the 

 owner apparently being overcome by the idea that the use of hard- 

 wood interior finish throughout would increase the cost immensely. 



The hardwood flooring people have the battle half-won, but 

 even they should press their advantage more closely. Instead of 

 being content with hardwood floors appearing only in a few rooms 

 on the lower floor, as is frequently the case, why not point out 

 the immense advantage and the slight increased cost of putting 

 them all over the house? The public is ripe for arguments of this 

 sort, and if the initial advantage already held were followed up, 

 it would unquestionably show in the increased consumption of 

 hardwood flooring, even though this commodity, as indicated, is 

 leading other forms of hardwoods by a long way in interior 

 construction. 



The architects offer probably the most fertile field for general 

 work on the subject at present. That they haven't the courage 

 of their convictions was indicated by remarks made by a young 

 designer recently in discussing the fads and foibles of owners. 



"In a great many cases," he said, "I specify oak and other 

 hardwoods in interior work, but when the estimates come in from 

 contractors it frequently happens that the owner finds that the 

 castle he had built in his imagination is going to cost more in 

 reality than he had intended. He wants to know if the cost can't 

 be cut down somewhere; and that means I have to begin to pare. 

 I attack the heating and plumbing installations, the lighting fix- 

 tures, the hardware and the interior finish, because all other items 

 are practically fixed, unless the design of the house be substan- 

 tially altered; so that by dint of cutting off a hundred here, fifty 

 dollars there and a couple of hundred over there, through a con- 

 siderable list of items, we manage to get the price down to what 

 the man who pays the bills thinks it ought to be. So it's fre- 

 quently a case of necessity on my part." 



Stated that way, the situation does not seem encouraging; but 

 inasmuch as the average owner wants a first-class house, especially 

 if it is to be his home, he would be willing to stretch his appro- 

 priation a little in order to cover what seem to be essentials; but 

 the point is that hardwood trimming has not been considered in 

 that light, but merely as an optional feature, to be included if 

 possible, and left out if convenient. 



Consequently the problem that presents itself to the trade is 

 to impress the facts upon the architect, the owner and the public 

 at large that hardwoods are not expensive; that they do not in- 

 crease the cost of home-building materially; that they do increase 

 the value of a house by considerably more than the added cost; 

 that the beauty and durability of the home so trimmed are 

 greater, by far, than is the case in that which is finished with 

 inferior materials. When these points are hammered in hard 

 enough and long enough, there won't be any question about it; 

 the public will not only be willing to take oak and other hardwoods 

 if the architect suggests it, but will actually demand them. 



G. D. C, Jr. 



The Filer and the Sawyer 



There are two men of primary importance in the operation of 

 a sawmill, men on whom quite a share of the success of the opera- 

 tions depends. These two men are the saw filer and the sawyer. 

 Usually the importance of the saw filer is duly recognized and 

 he is the best paid man on the place, but the other man, the' 

 sawyer, who sometimes does not receive as much recognition or 

 pay, is often more important in a way than the filer. The reason 

 for this is that it is easy enough to recognize when a filer is doing 

 his duty, whereas it is difficult at times to know whether or not 

 the sawyer is doing his duty; eonsequenth' when you have a sawyer 

 who you know is good and is' doing all that he should do, he is 

 really worth as much to the mill owner as is the filer. 



If the filer fails in his duty the result is apparent almost imme- 

 diately in the form of broken or poorly running saws. In other 

 words, there is immediate and direct evidence of how the filer is 

 doing his duty, so it is comparatively easy to keep check on him 

 and either keep him keyed up to his work or get another man. 

 With the sawyer it is a different matter. Tou can tell whether or 

 not he is wasting timber in unnecessarily large slabs, but it is 

 quite a complicated task, requiring the presence of an expert all 

 the time, to tell whether or not the sawyer is getting all the 

 money value that he should out of logs. There is really more 

 brain work about properly sawing up logs, if one stays by the job 

 faithfully, than there is about properly filing or tensioning a saw. 

 The sawyer who uses his brains, uses them well and continuously, 

 may save the millman many times more money, as compared to an 

 indifferent sawyer, in the course of a day than the wages of the 

 sawyer and filer combined. For this reason the sawyer is really 

 entitled to more consideration than ho usually gets, and if he is 

 really a good man and uses his brains all the time, he is the man 

 who should pull down the biggest wages in the sawmill. Soma 

 time this fact will be recognized. J. C. T. 



